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Charles R. Bauerlein, civil engineer and peace activist

Charles R. Bauerlein, 84, of Mt Airy, a civil engineer and peace activist, died Sept. 12 of Burkitt’s lymphoma at the home of his daughter, Lisa Troncale in New Holland.

For 40 years Mr. Bauerlein was the owner of Recreation Consultants, a firm that designed community swimming pools and parks in the tri-state area and supervised pool repair work for clubs, high schools and municipalities.

Before starting his own firm, he had been a salesman for Viking-Paddock Pools.

In 1981, when the Plowshares Eight, a group that included the Rev. Daniel Berrigan and his brother, the Rev. Philip Berrigan, went on trial in Norristown for damaging missile cones at the General Electric plant in King of Prussia, Mr. Bauerlein and his wife, Agnes, opened their Ambler home to the defendants.

Mrs. Bauerlein, a native of the Netherlands who had lost a brother and sister in bombings during World War II, was supported by her husband when she was briefly jailed for participating in antiwar demonstrations and when she traveled to Iraq in 1991 as part of a group trying to avert the war.

The Bauerleins formed a local chapter of Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace group, and Mr. Bauerlein joined Veterans for Peace.

Raised in Brooklyln, N.Y., Mr. Bauerlein served in the Navy during World War II on the West Coast. After the war, he received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cornell University.

In addition to his wife of 61 years and daughter Lisa, he is survived by sons, Charles, Paul, Mark and Matthew; daughters Gretchen Voll, Heidi Hopkins, Trudy Orthey, Annie Mergott, Judy Bauerlein-Mitchell and Marianna; a brother; 26 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Sept. 16 at St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church, 109 E. Price St., Philadelphia, PA 19144. Memorial donations may be made to the dining room at the church. – WF